10/7/13 - LAKEWOOD, Wash. - A Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier wasstabbed to death in a parking lot at the 12500 block of Pacific HighwaySouthwest around 2:30 a.m., officials say. 20-year-old Tevin Geike waswalking with two other white soldiers along Pacific Highway SW when agroup of black men drove by and shouted a racial comment toward thesoldiers, the Lakewood Police Department said. "One of the soldiersyelled back something about the suspects treating combat soldiers withdisrespect," Lt. Chris Lawler said.

The car turned around and themen confronted the soldiers, according to reports. As the verbalconfrontation ensued, the driver of the vehicle realized the men wereactually combat veterans and called his friends off. While the menheaded back to their vehicle, one of the suspects appeared to havebumped into Geike, witnesses say.

The soldiers saw Geike fall tothe ground as the car sped away. He was bleeding profusely from stabwounds and died at the scene.

"We came down here, and he was already dead in my brother's arms," said Glenn Zimmerman, a friend of Geike.

Friendssay there was a party at the Biltmore Motel that evening, and Geike wasgathering with family and friends after being discharged from themilitary. Zimmerman said Geike's contract was up, and he was celebratingserving his country.

"I don't understand how someone can do this- that man, he almost gave his life for people to enjoy the freedomsthey have and he was just stabbed for no (expletive) reason," hecontinued.

The initial remark that started the encounter seemedderogatory in nature, said Lakewood police Lt. Chris Lawler. He said itwas too early to say that race was the motivating factor, butinvestigators were exploring whether the killing should be classified asa hate crime.

Allfive suspects are black men in their 20s, police say. The main suspectis believed to be in his early 20s, about 6'1", medium build, and waswearing a blue zip-up hoodie. The driver was described as having shortcropped hair, and wearing a blue and white horizontal striped shirt.

Detectiveswere in the area Saturday looking for businesses or others who mighthave video from around the time of the stabbing. Lawler said the personwho stabbed the soldier should come forward and show remorse now.

"He's going to get caught," Lawler said. "Nobody's going to give up until we catch up."

Geike,of Summerville, SC, entered the Army in October 2010 and reported toFort Jackson, SC, for basic training. According to unit records, Spc.Geike was a member of the 7th Infantry Division, arrived at JBLM inApril 2011, and had been in the Army 35 months.